'Taken' star Clive Standen on playing Bryan Mills and calling Canada home

May 01, 2017

It was a blockbuster hit on the big screen with Liam Neeson at the helm. Now, British actor
Clive Standen, 35, has stepped in to bring Taken to life in the form of a modern origin story.

Clive takes on the role of Bryan Mills, a highly-skilled former special forces operative, who teams up with a government agency to take down the man responsible for his sister's death.

With the action-packed series being filmed in and around Toronto, the 35-year-old actor had to move his family across the pond to the Great White North. And while some actors might see the Transatlantic trek as an inconvenience, Clive is relishing in the hospitality he's experienced in his home away from home. "My daughter
joined a new school and it’s like she’s been there forever. She’s already
started sounding Canadian much to my chagrin (Laughs). They are so happy here and
that’s thanks to the Canadian people."

Here, the handsome
Vikings star opens up about playing an action star on the small screen and the advice he received from the man who first brought Bryan Mills to life.

Clive, how does Bryan differ from other action stars we see on TV? I wanted this character to be real. Action should
be about character and driving the plot forward. There are a lot of seemingly heroic characters who jump through
windows and slide on broken glass and get hit by cars and just run off down the
street looking perfect. And that’s not what happens. When you get hit in the face you bruise and you bleed.

What’s it like to be on a series packed with stunts and fight scenes? [After filming] you have to kind of go, “Yeah I’m fine!” Then I go home to my wife and cry and hope that I’m going to repair [Smiles]. I have three kids and a wife, so I have to leave it at the door.

Have you met Liam Neeson aka Bryan Mills 1.0? He’s such a humble, sweet and lovely guy. He came straight over to me and said, “Rollo, you traitor! He’s seen every episode [of Vikings].” It was his way of breaking the ice because I was nervous.

Did he give you any advice? His big M.O. was exactly why I took the role. He said, “He’s just a real guy. I don’t want to see you doing back flips. Just make it your own. He’s just a man.”

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